The World I Once Knew
by Skyler99
Summary: With no past to fall back on, and a vague future to chase after, Romano proceeds to find his worth in an unknown world.
1. The Lonely Boy

**A/N: **This fic is loosely based on common RPG plots. The characters will act a little differently, but they'll still retain most of their usual qualities. Mostly adventure and action, but with subtle hints of romance. (C'mon, it wouldn't be Hetalia without that. XD)

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE:<strong> _"You and me are buddies now, kid."_

Is the "reality" we go through everyday even real? Do we even really exist? If so, what do we "exist" for? No one _can_ tell; no one _will_ tell; and no one _should_ tell. We might just be figments of our own imaginations, and our lives just an illusion of our desires. We might even just be one entity's dream of an ideal world. Whatever we may be, I know what I want to be. I want to be... different. Or so I thought.

You might call me a blank slate, free to do with as you wish. I don't remember anything—my name, my family, where I grew up—things that normal people would normally remember. For all I care, I might have been waiting till it was the right time to wake up. And I _did_ wake up. I opened my eyes from what seemed like forever and found myself in the middle of a glade. The sky was beautiful, but it was also empty. No clouds, no birds, no planes; nothing. It was almost like it was waiting for someone to come by and give it a purpose for being there, so high up and so lonely.

A man's voice suddenly broke my train of thought. "You plan on daydreaming like that forever, kid?" he had said.

He inched closer to me, and I tilted my head upwards to meet his gaze. His emerald eyes were so deep, so sad, that it was almost painful to look at them. His lips curled into a smile when he saw how I looked away, how I made obvious the anxiety whirling up inside me. He slumped down into a sitting position beside me, and I forced myself to sit up as well, getting a good view of him. His brown hair, windswept and unkempt but strangely neat in appearance, faintly covered a scar on his left temple. His tanned skin held the proof of many battles—scars and scratches of a great variety. He was built tough, muscles adorning his entire framework. What he wore justified what he looked like. He was garbed in light armor with a one-sided cape draped on his left shoulder plate and a coat of arms on his chest. A large halberd lying harmlessly on the ground separated the two of us.

"Got a name?" he said in a chummy tone.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't know it." I shifted to a fetal position, resting my chin on my knees. I might have sighed back then, or maybe not.

"Amnesia, huh?" asked the man nonchalantly.

"I guess so."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"You'll still ask even if I say no, so go ahead," I dryly remarked.

It was either the tone that I said it with or the reaction that accompanied it that elicited an amused chuckle from him. "Kids nowadays... So, you got a plan or something?"

"A plan?"

"Where you want to go, what you want to do, things you want to know—stuff like that. If I get up right now and leave, what are you gonna do next?"

"Don't know. Maybe go back to sleep and hope this was all a dream."

"What if it turns out it wasn't a dream?"

"I'll know when I get there."

"Fair enough." He gave me a pat on the shoulder and slowly stood up. "Hey kid, want to tag along with me?"

There was something about the subtle blend of outwardly strength and inner compassion he possessed that gave me a sense of security. I might have known the dangers of travelling with someone who appeared to have no problem hacking a person's head off, but that was overshadowed by a hankering to find an answer to the multitude of questions that a single encounter opened up. So without even pausing to think, without taking a moment to weigh the current situation, I had given him a clear approval. I signed myself in for an adventure I might not live long enough to regret.

"Then that's that. You and me are buddies now, kid. Our first and foremost goal as buddies? To find our worth in this world."

"Sounds good."

He took the halberd and pointed it at the horizon. "We go where fate leads us, Romano."

"Romano?"

"That's right. Ro-ma-no. I'm giving you a name, an identity. Until the day you find out for yourself who you really are, allow me to fill in that void."

It was my turn to chuckle. "Thanks. By the way, didn't catch your name."

"Spain. Spain, the Conqueror."


	2. Masks and Melodies

**A/N:** Not really sure if I plan on making this shonen-ai or something. I never really gave it much thought. But I _was_ planning on including some het pairings here.

But hey, if I get any reviews, I can make this story into anything. I can take requests, too. Just saying… XD

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: <strong>_"Take a closer look before... heads come flying off."_

Romano. Romano. Romano.

That kid was a handful, but strangely enough, I didn't really mind. It wasn't everyday that I come across someone who was that… innocent. He had seen my halberd, seen it in action as it sliced a head clean off a creature's body. He had seen my blood-stained hands and the bloodlust in my eyes, my friendly façade literally dissolving to make way for my true colors. He had seen _me—_the final image that my victims see as they draw their final breath. Yes, he was fazed. Yes, he was scared. And yes, he cried like the kid he really was.

"You know, crying doesn't make you less of a man. It's…"

"I know that, dammit," he said, interrupting me with a piercing, tearful glare. "I just… You…"

I placed my hand on his auburn hair and gently tousled it. "There, there. Yeah, you don't want me to see you this weak. You _are_ a man after all… Is that what you wanted to say?"

He looked back at me, those still moist eyes hesitant and half-lidded. He didn't really need to answer my question. I knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"Well screw that," I continued. "Crying doesn't make you weak Romano. It only makes you stronger. Once you learn to break down that emotional barrier you call pride and allow your emotions to break free, then you become a real man. A real man cries, Romano, so don't go blushing your little head off like that. 'Kay?"

In a world of magic, violence and mystery—where desires lead you astray and false hopes will likely land you a spot in the cemetery—a kid like him has no chance of surviving. That was mostly the reason I took him with me. He needed to find himself, regain what he lost, but he couldn't do that alone. Yes, I took him under my care because I didn't want someone else to end up like me. I didn't want another sad, little boy searching in the dark for a past that had long left him for dead. Another reason? Well, maybe I was just… lonely.

"Hey, Spain…" he suddenly mumbled, snapping me out of my internal dialogue. "T-Thanks… for saving me, and stuff. That thing would've killed me if you weren't here."

_That kid actually apologized? Guess his pride wasn't as stubborn as I thought._

"Now that's the kind of honesty and manliness I wanted to see," I gleefully stated as I placed my arm around his shoulders. "Now, Romano, let's go before more of those freakish things show up."

The bridge leading to the next town had collapsed for reasons we still do not know, so I decided to take a shortcut through the forest instead. The forest was… Well, the blight had robbed the trees of all their vigor, reducing them to large, shriveled twigs in an unsightly shade of grey. There was no leaf in sight, nary the slightest speck of green (of life) anywhere. The sun had baked the soil to the core, mercilessly cracking its surface. The deathly cold wind would blow from time to time, sending shivers down Romano's spine. The ghostly whispers that accompanied it and the repugnant "taste" that lingered in the air had not made the scene any better. Just when you thought it couldn't get better, lack of food had made the residents rather edgy. They'd all-too-happily lash out at anyone they see.

"Hey Spain, can you hear something?" Romano suddenly asked.

I closed my eyes and tried to drown out all the unnecessary noise. I focused on hearing what I needed to hear, and I didn't fail. It might have been nothing above the faintest of whispers but I could definitely hear _it_. I opened my mouth to say something but never got around to doing do as Romano had stubbornly made a dash towards the sound.

"Romano! Don't just take off, you… Ugh! Wait up!"

I pretty agile for a man of my size as a result of the many battles I had to go through, but even _I _couldn't compete with Romano's youthful speed. He darted through the death-stricken forest like a bullet through tissue, and as we ran deeper and deeper into the heart of the terrain, the sound seemed to envelop us more and more. It took me a couple of minutes and a lot of panting before I could catch up with him. He had stopped at the edge of a small, rocky ledge overlooking a dried up lakebed below. The sound that had been nothing but a muffled noise a while ago was actually the melodious dance of the notes as they elegantly glided over one another, blending to become any tired ear's paradise. Looking down, I saw a vague figure holding what appeared to be a violin.

I looked around and noticed that he (I'm assuming he's a guy for now) was surrounded by beasts of different shapes and sizes. But they didn't go anywhere near him. They just… stood there. I firmly gripped the length of my halberd and prepared to jump down there and rescue him when I felt fingers wrapping themselves around my wrist. I turned to the side to see a calm Romano looking back at me with his somber topaz eyes.

"Spain, take a closer look before you go swinging that thing around and heads come flying off."

I did as he told me to. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the beasts all appeared to be… entranced. By the music, perhaps? Then, one by one, they slowly collapsed until the man was the only one left standing. I loosened my grip on the halberd as Romano released my wrist. I looked at him again and he gave me a nod.

"Let's go down there," he said.

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><p><strong>AN:** Yeah, I'm sure the "vague figure holding what appeared to be a violin" was pretty obvious enough. You guys _must_ know who it is already. Hey, leave a review if it's not too much to ask. ^^


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